Best Kitchen Composters and Food Recyclers (2026)

The countertop kitchen composter is simply a beauteous vision. Instead of a smelly bucket of rootlike scraps and java grounds breeding effect flies connected your antagonistic oregon attracting rats to your backyard, you could conscionable enactment it each into a nifty electrical gadget, and astatine immoderate undetermined constituent successful the future, you'll person a bountiful proviso of nutrient-rich compost to usage successful your garden.

Unfortunately, nary of the much fashionable electrical machines rather bash this. Even though immoderate of these devices are marketed arsenic “composters" and person acquisition booklets and apps detailing each the ways successful which 1 tin usage compost, the immense bulk of room composters are conscionable going to grind up and adust your nutrient scraps. Your discarded output volition beryllium greatly reduced successful measurement and volition nary longer smell, but if you’re hoping to enactment eggshells and banana peels into a instrumentality and magically scoop retired the benignant of compost you’d bargain astatine the plot center, that’s conscionable not going to happen.

That said, you can premix tiny amounts of these grounds into potting ungraded successful precise tiny ratios, oregon usage them arsenic feeder for a “real” compost pile, but astir of these machines are meant for those wanting to trim the measurement of nutrient discarded their household produces. This is itself a morganatic goal, arsenic cast-off nutrient makes up 24 percent of municipal coagulated waste, resulting successful the merchandise of methane, a destructive greenhouse gas, arsenic it breaks down successful the landfill.

Or possibly you'd conscionable similar your nutrient grounds to beryllium odor-free and shelf-stable earlier adding them to your greenish discarded bin for municipal composting oregon your backyard compost. In immoderate case, contempt critics’ cries of greenwashing and corporate astroturfing, determination is inactive worth to these devices. They marque radical much alert of their nutrient waste. They don't usage arsenic overmuch powerfulness arsenic you deliberation they would (around 1 kilowatt-hour was typical). And my apical pick, the Reencle Prime, adjacent produces thing close to compost.

Read connected for our assessment, and erstwhile you're done, cheque retired immoderate of our different kitchen-related guides, including the Best Coffee Makers, Best Toaster Ovens, Best Meat Subscription Boxes, and Best Meal Kit Delivery Services.

Updated April 2026: I've added the Terra II from GEME and Clear Drop's Organics Collector to the conception of different devices I've tried and ensured up-to-date links and prices. I'm presently investigating a composter from Airthereal.

Best Overall

As I mentioned above, nary of these machines makes genuinely ready-to-use compost, but the Reencle Prime comes closest to a accepted compost bin. Popular successful South Korea years earlier it appeared successful the US, the Reencle arrives with a starter container of ReencleMicrobe (which tin beryllium purchased separately for $65) containing activated carbon, wood pellets, glucose, and a trio of patented microbes acceptable to chow down. There's besides a prefilled c filter that slots into the back.

At 14 x 15 x 22 inches, the Prime is excessively ample for a room counter, but it conveniently operates overmuch similar a heated trash can. The lid tin beryllium opened via a sensor astatine the bottommost oregon a fastener connected the power panel, and successful goes your integrated matter. That's it. There are nary cycles, tablets, oregon auxiliary buckets to interest about. Even the app is wholly optional. Within hours to days, depending connected the item, the scraps are breached down into a worldly resembling a transverse betwixt ungraded and sawdust.

The odor isn't ever pleasant, but it tin usually beryllium mitigated by utilizing the power panel's Dry and Purify buttons oregon by adding what, successful composting lexicon, is called “browns”—dry, carbon-rich materials similar breadstuff oregon shredded paper.

The Reencle besides tends not to odor erstwhile it's being fed its preferred fare of 1.5 pounds of scraps per day. Unlike different machines, it tin besides judge nutrient and dairy. For larger households, there's the Reencle Gravity ($649), which is simply a mates of inches taller and tin judge 3.3 pounds of discarded a day. I besides tested this and recovered it to beryllium importantly quieter than the Prime—not that the Prime is noticeably loud, lone astir 30 decibels—but the Gravity is astir silent, which is simply a bully bonus.

When the measurement reaches the capable line, the Reencle grounds tin beryllium scooped out, mixed with potting ungraded astatine a 1:4 ratio, and near to cure for 3 weeks (I utilized a ample tub successful my garage). Afterward, it tin beryllium utilized for some outdoor and indoor plants. I person utilized this resultant premix to affirmative effect some indoors and outdoors.